Movies

Remembering Zoe Caldwell

Her son Charlie Whitehead said she died of Parkinson’s disease complications on Sunday at her home in New York. She was 86.

The veteran actress won four lead actress Tony Awards spanning 30 years from the plays The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1968), Slapstick Tragedy (1966), Madea (1982) and Master Class (1996).

Caldwell was born in Melbourne on September 14, 1933. She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1959 and made her Broadway debut in 1965 as a replacement player in The Devils.

One of her most famous roles is as the opera great Maria Callas in Master Class. From 1995 to 1997, the show played nearly 600 performances at the John Golden Theatre.

Caldwell also starred in a number of films, including Disney’s Lilo & Stitch and romantic fantasy The Purple Rose of Cairo.

In 2001, Caldwell published her memoir I Will Be Cleopatra, which detailed her journey as an aspiring actor to achieve the role of the Egyptian ruler opposite Christopher Plummer in the 1967 production of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra.

She is survived by two sons, Sam and Charlie Whitehead, and grandchildren Ross and Ward Whitehead.